2 

n 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

<> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


T.  banter. 
Post-Bellum  Mortality  Among  Confederates, 

A  D  D  R  KS  S 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


(onfederate  Qurvivers'  \3rssociation 
^^-  ^*J  ~*J  \^ 


AT    ITS 


QUARTERLY  MEETING 

IN 

AUGUSTA,  GEORGIA,  AUGUST  2D.  1887. 

•BY 

COL:  CHARLES  C,  JON  ES,  JR.,  LL,  D,, 

PRESIDENT   OF    THE    ASSOCIATION. 


PRINTED     BY     ORDER    OF    THE     ASSOCIATION. 


AUGUSTA,  GA. 

CHRONICLE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1887. 


6firr6$  \     '&  c/-/ 


/ 


3(on.  ]£  Dyi  T.  banter. . 
Post-Bellum  Mortality  Among  Confederates, 

A  D  D  R  BSS 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


(onfederate  Qurvivors'  Association 
^^  ^^J  ~*J  \^ 


AT    ITS 


QUARTERLY  MEETING 


IN 


AUGUSTA.  GEORGIA,  AUGUST  2o  1887. 


COL:  CHARLES  C°  JO  N  ES,  JR.,  LL.  D.. 


PRESIDENT   OF    THE    ASSOCIATION. 


PRINTED     BY    ORDER    OF   THE     ASSOCIATION. 


AUGUSTA,  GA. 

CHRONICLE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1887. 


ADDRESS. 


COMRADES: 

Since  our  pleasant  Reunion  on  the  26th  of  April  last,  five 
of  our  companions  have  joined  the  legions  encamped!  on  the 
Further  Shore  Eobert  Wallace, — second  lieutenant  of  the 
Washington  Artillery, — died  on  the  10th  of  May;  J.  C.  Allen, — 
private  in  Company  A,  Cobb's  Legion  of  Cavalry, — on  the  28th 
of  the  same  month;  William  Delane, — private  in  Company  A, 
Fifth  Regiment  Georgia  Infantry, — on  the  9th  of  June;  Charles 
A.  Plait, — captain  of  the  same  company — on  the  21st  of  July — 
memorable  as  the  anniversary  of  the  First  Battle  of  Manassas — 
and  to-day  we  receive  the  afflictive  intelligence  that  our  com- 
rade Theodore  D.  Caswell, — Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Second 
Battalion,  Georgia  Sharp  Shooters — is  lying  dead  in  Asheville 
North  Carolina. 

.The  strong  hand  of  mortality  has  also  been  laid  upon  two 
noted  Confederates.  William  Smith, — a  war-governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  a  Major-General  in  Confederate  service — departed 
this  life  at  his  home  in  Warrenton,  Virginia,  on  the  18th  of 
May,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years  ;  and,  on  the  18th  of 
July,  Eobert  Mercer  Taliaferro  Hunter  quietly  ended  his  long 
and  honorable  earthly  career. 

Born  in  Essex  County,  Virginia,  on  the  21st  of  April,  1809, 
Mr.  Hunter  acquired  his  collegiate  education  at  the  University 
of  Virginia.  Having  completed  his  professional  preparation 
at  the  Winchester  Law  School,  he  was  called  to  the  Bar  in 
1830.  In  early  manhood  his  active  interest  in  public  affairs, 
an  honorable  ambition  for  preferment,  and  the  exhibition  of 
unusual  abilities  were  recognized  and  rewarded  by  an  election 
to  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates,  of  which  he  remained  a 
member  for  three  years. 


In  1837  he  was  advanced  to  a  seat  in  Congress,  which  he 
filled  for  two  consecutive  terms.  Returned  to  the  National 
Assembly  in  1847,  he  presided  over  the  Twenty-Sixth  Congress 
as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  From  bis  earliest 
participation  in  national  affairs  he  manifested  an  intellectual 
superiority,  an  independence  of  thought  and  action,  and  broad 
views  of  measures  and  government  which,  maintained  and 
heightened  during  subsequent  years,  secured  for  him  an  envia- 
ble reputation  for  integrity,  political  sagacity,  and  wise  states- 
manship. Possessing  uncommon  intellect,  and  exhibiting 
admirable  traits  of  character,  he  was  an  earnest  student,  an 
engaging  speaker,  was  gifted  by  nature  with  a  noble  presence, 
and  was  in  every  way  a  man  of  commanding  influence.  In 
1847  he  became  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  and  continued 
to  be  a  prominent  member  of  that  august  body  until,  in  1861, 
Virginia  severed  her  connection  with  the  Union. 

When  the  State  of  Virginia  passed  her  Ordinance  of  Seces- 
sion and  sanctioned  a  resolution  adopting  the  constitution  of 
the  Provisional  Government  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  a  delegation,  consisting  of  Mr.  Hunter,  and  the  hon- 
orable William  C.  Rives,  John  W.  Brockenbrough,  and  W.  R. 
Staples,  was  elected  to  represent  that  State  in  the  Provisional 
Congress  at  Montgomery.  Upon  the  adjournment  of  that 
Congress  to  meet  at  Richmond — the  designated  capital  of  the 
infant  Republic — Mr.  Hunter  was  again  chosen  as  a  delegate 
from  the  Old  Dominion. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Toombs  resigned  the  port- 
folio of  the  State  Department  and  accepted  service  in  the  nVld 
with  the  rank  of  brigadier  general.  In  this  emergency  Presi- 
dent Davis  summoned  Mr.  Hunter  to  his  cabinet.  He  accepted 
the  appointment  of  Secretary  of  State,  and  discharged  the 
duties  of  that  responsible  position  until  the  organization  of  the 
Confederate  Senate,  when  he  became  a  member  of  that  body, 
and  retained  his  seat,  as  the  leading  Senator  from  Virginia, 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  The  valuable  services  he  rendered 
both  in  the  National  Assembly  of  the  United  States  and  in  the 
Confederate  Congress,  are  well  remembered.  The  conspicuous 
part  borne  by  him  when,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Davis,  and  in 
association  with  Vice-President  Stephens  and  Judge  Campbell, 
he  participated  in  the  Fortress  Monroe  Conference  is  fresh  in 
our  recollection. 


Subsequent  to  the  conclusion  of  the  war  Mr.  Hunter  was 
for  some  time  the  treasurer  of  his  native  State.  Of  late  years 
he  has  led  a  retired  life,  toiling  for  bread  in  the  midst  of  dis- 
appointments and  losses.  At  the  last,  we  doubt  not,  he  wel- 
comed surcease  from  labor  and.  anxieties  in  the  repose  of  a 
simple  but  honored  grave. 

Thus  do  we  inscribe  a  page  in  memory  of  one  who  held 
high  office  and  discharged  important  duties  in  the  civil  service 
of  the  Confederacy. 

Although  only  twenty-two  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
fall  of  the  Confederacy,  the  catalogue  of  the  dead  who,  while 
in  life,  bore  prominent  parts  in  the  maintenance  of  that  govern- 
ment, is  remarkable.  Not  the  flight  of  time  only,  but. burthen- 
some  losses,  weighty  disappointments,  mental  and  physical 
tension,  and  unusual  afflictions  have  had  much  to  do  in  bring- 
ing about  a  heavy  mortality.  This  will  increase  during  the 
next  decade  in  a  greater  than  geometrical  ratio,  and  very 
soon  there  will  be  none  among  the  living  who  bore  personal 
allegiance  to  the  Confederate  Flag.  The  youngest  survivor  of 
the  Confederate  Army  and  Navy — well-kept  benedict  or  spruce 
bachelor  though  he  be — must  surely  have  attained  at  least  to 
his  fortieth  year.  The  head  of  the  average  soldier  is  silvered 
with  age,  and  multitudes  who  were  in  the  meridian  of  life 
when  the  storm  raged  have  succumbed  to  the  inevitable  law 
which  fixes  the  bounds  of  human  longevity. 

Let  us  see,  in  a  general  way,  how  the  record  stands. 

Our  venerable  President  still  lives  and,  at  Beauvoir,  enjoys 
a  serene  old  age  beneath  the  grateful  shadows  of  Southern 
Live-Oaks  and  Magnolias  ;  but  the  Vice-President  of  the  Con- 
federacy four  years  ago  terminated  his  active  and  useful  career. 

Of  those  who  held  the  portfolio  of  State — Robert  Toombs, 
R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and  Judah  P.  Benjamin, — all  are  dead. 

Of  the  four  Attorneys  General,  only  two, — Ex-Governor 
Thomas  H.  Watts,  and  the  honorable  George  Davis — survive. 

Mr.  Memminger,  of  the  Treasury  Department,  still  lives. 
The  other  Secretary, — the  gifted  George  A.  Trenholm — has, 
for  years,  been  sleeping  that  sleep  which  knows  no  waking. 

Of  the  five  Secretaries  of  War — Leroy  Pope  Walker,  Judah 
P.  Benjamin,  George  W.  Randolph,  James  A.  Seddon,  and  John 
C.  Breckinridge — not  one  is  alive. 


The  accomplished  Adjutant  General  Samuel  Cooper,  R.  G. 
H.  Kean — chief  of  the  bureau  of  War, — A.  C.  Myers — Quarter- 
Master  General, — L.  B.  Northrup — Commissary  General, — 
General  L.  M.  St.  John — chief  of  the  bureau  of  Subsistence, — 
General  Josiah  Gorgas — chief  of  Ordnance, — Col.  T.  S.  Rhett — 
in  charge  of  the  Ordnance  bureau, — General  J.  F.  Gilmer — 
chief  Engineer, — General  John  S.  Preston — chief  of  the  bureau 
of  Conscription, —  General  John  H.  Winder — commanding 
Prison  Camps, — Robert  Ould — chief  of  the  bureau  of  Exchange, 
— Richard  Morton — chief  of  the  Nitre  and  Mining  bureau, — 
and  A.  H.  Carrington — acting  Provost-Marshal  General, — are, 
I  believe,  all  dead.  Quartermaster  General  Alexander  R.  Law- 
ton,  now  verging  upon  seventy,  represents  the  United  States 
at  the  Austrian  Court. 

Rufus  R.  Rhodes — Commissioner  of  Patents — is  thought 
to  be  no  longer  among  the  living. 

Turning  to  the  Navy  Department  we  find  upon  the  death, 
roll  the  names  of  Secretary  Stephen  R.  Mallory,  of  Commodore 
F.  Forrest — chief  of  the  bureau  of  Orders, — of  Admirals  Frank- 
lin Buchanan  and  Raphael  Semmes, — of  Commodores  Tattnall, 
Maury,  Whittle,  Hollins,  Ingraham,  and  of  many  other  promi- 
nent officers. 

Post  Master  General  John  H.  Reagan  lives,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  National  Legislature. 

...Of,  the  Commissioners  who  represented  the  Confederacy 
abroad,  Jameis  -Mv  Mason  and  William  L.  Yancey — accredited  to 
Great  Britain, — John  Slidell — accredited  to  France, — P.  A.  Rost 
— accredited  to  Spain, — John  T.  Pickett — accredited  to  Mexico, 
— Bishop  Lynch — accredited  to  the  States  of  the  Church, — and 
John  Forsyth,  Martin  J.  Crawford,  A.  B.  Roman,  and  Charles 
J.  Faulkner — accredited  to  the  United  States, — are  dead.  The 
octogenarian,  A.  Dudley  Mann  — accredited  to  Belgium — resides 
in  France.  The  honorable  Lucius  Q.  C.  Lamar — accredited  to 
Russia — is  a  member  of  President  Cleveland's  Cabinet,  and 
General  William  Preston — accredited  to  Mexico — rejoices  in 
his  broad  acres  in  the  blue-grass  region  of  Kentucky. 

Among  the  Consular,  Confidential,  and  Foreign  Agents  of 
the  Confederacy  we  note  the  demise  of  C.  C.  Clay,  Jacob 
Thompson,  James  P.  Holcombe,  Charles  J.  Helm,  Colin  J. 
McRae,  George  N.  Sanders,  J.  L.  O'Sullivan,1  and  of  others 
holding  less  important  positions. 


Of  those  who  bore  rank  as  Full  Generals  in  the  armies  of 
the  Confederacy  only  two  survive : — Generals  Joseph  E.  John- 
ston and  G.  T.  Beauregard.  General  Albert  S.  Johnston  fell  in 
the  memorable  battle  of  Shiloh,  and  Generals  Eobert  E.  Lee 
and  Braxton  Bragg  died  since  the  cessation  of  hostilities. 

There  were  two  generals  with  temporary  rank — E.  Kirby 
Smith,  and  John  B.  Hood.  The  former  lives,  and  the  latter,  in 
dying,  commended  his  orphans  to  the  care  of  the  soldiers  of 
the  Confederacy. 

Twenty-one  officers  were  complimented  with  the  grade  of 
Lieutenant  General.  The  only  survivors  are  Generals  James 
Longstreet,  E.  Kirby  Smith,  D.  H.  Hill,  Stephen  D.  Lee,  Wade 
Hampton,  Jubal  A.  Early,  Alexander  P.  Stewart,  Joseph  Whee- 
le,r,  Simon  B.  Buckner,  and  John  B.  Gordon. 

Of  the  one  hundred  who  were  commissioned  as  Major 
Generals  in  Confederate  service,  if  my  information  be  correct, 
only  forty-five  are  now  numbered  among  the  living, 

Of  four  hundred  and  eighty  who  rose  to  the  grade  of 
Brigadier  General,  an  inquiry — by  no  means  partial, — inclines 
me  to  the  belief  that  there  are  not  two  hundred  in  life. 

With  the  exception  of  Thomas  H.  Watts  of  Alabama, 
Joseph  E.  Brown  of  Georgia,  Zebulon  B.  Vance  of  North  Caro- 
lina, M.  L.  Bonham  and  A.  G.  Magrath  of  South  Carolina, 
Isham  G.  Harris  of  Tennessee,  and  perhaps  Eichard  Hawes  of 
Kentucky,  all  the  War-Governors  of  Confederate  StQitflttrttre 
dead.  BBOCro^ 

We  have  not  sufficient  data  to  speak  with  certainty  in 
regard  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Confederate  Con- 
gress, but  we  do  know  that  the  mortality  among  them  has  been 
commensurate  with  that  which  has  occurred  in  other  depart- 
ments. Of  those  who  tarry  with  us,  not  a  few  have  almost 
reached  the  last  span  in  the  bridge  of  life,  and  must  soon  fall 
into  the  dark  stream  which  bears  away  the  generations  of 
men. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States  was  signed  by 
forty-nine  delegates.  All  who  affixed  their  signatures  to  that 
memorable  document  are  dead  except  C.  G.  Memminger,  W. 
Porcher  Miles  and  William  W.  Boyce  of  South  Carolina,  Au- 
gustus R.  Wright  of  Georgia,  David  P.  Lewis  and  Jabez  L.  M. 
Curry  of  Alabama,  W.  P.  Harris,  Alexander  M.  Clayton,  and 


8 

J.  A.  P.  Campbell  of  Mississippi,  Alexander  de  Clouet  of  Louis- 
iana, and  Thomas  N.  Waul  and  John  H.  Reagan  of  Texas. 

And  who  can  furnish  even  a  partial  roster  of  the  field, 
company,  and  non-commissioned  officers,  privates,  subordinates 
in  various  departments,  and  servants  of  the  Confederacy,  who 
have  died  since  the  final  surrender  ?  Surely  none,  save  the 
Recording  Angel,  is  competent  for  such  a  task.  Wounds, 
bruises,  poverty,  desolation,  exposures,  want,  and  disappoint- 
ments have  exerted  a  potent  influence  in  shortening  the  lives 
of  many  who  escaped  death  upon  the  march,  on  the  field  of 
battle,  or  in  prison  camp  and  hospital.  In  the  natural  order  of 
affairs  the  multitude  of  those  who  have  thus  gone  to  their 
graves  must  be  great.  Sad  as  the  fact  is,  we  may  rest  assured 
that  with  the  close  of  this  century  there  will  remain  compara- 
tively few,  competent,  from  personal  experience,  to  narrate  any 
of  the  incidents  connected  with  the  Confederate  struggle  for 
independence. 

This  being  so,  the  obligation  is  laid  upon  all,  who  can,  to 
perpetuate  in  enduring  form  the  true  philosophy  of  events,  the 
genuine  circumstance  of  the  action,  the  inspirations,  the  ex- 
alted aspirations,  the  patriotic  impulses,  the  heroic  endeavors, 
the  illustrious  achievements,  and  the  grand  memories  which 
impart  to  the  defensive  war  maintained  by  Confederates  an 
importance,  an  interest,  a  dignity,  an  elevation,  and  a  sanctity 
beyond  compare  in  the  history  of  kindred  revolutions. 

Unfortunately,  the  historian  too  often  busies  himself  so 
largely  with  laudations  of  the  victor  that  justice  is  lamely 
meted  out  to  the  aims  and  the  exploits  of  the  vanquished. 
There  is,  however,  apart  from  recorded  history,  a  general  senti- 
ment, an  honest  appreciation  of  fact,  a  faithful  narrative  of 
event,  a  true  interpretation  of  purpose,  which  may  be  transmit- 
ted from  sire  to  son,  and  which  will  prove  very  potent  in  form- 
ing the  judgment,  moulding  the  thought,  and  shaping  the  ap- 
preciation of  the  rising  generation.  Let  us  see  to  it,  my  Com- 
rades, that  we  are  not  misinterpreted  by  our  sons.  Our  chil- 
dren should  be  thoroughly  taught  the  noble  lessons  inculcated 
by  the  lives  and  acts  of  those  who  died  for  country  and  for 
right.  A  proper  conception  and  a  due  observance  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  conduct  of  those  who,  in  the  past,  illustrated  the 
integrity,  the  virtues,  and  the  valor  of  the  Old  South,  will  best 
ensure  the  manliness,  the  honor,  and  the  courage  of  the  future. 


9 

The  present,  alas  !  is  essentially  a  utilitarian  age.  It  is  icono- 
clastic in  its  tendencies,  and  lamentably  debauched  by  commer- 
cial methods.  Ennobling  sentiments  and  worthy  purposes  are 
too  often  supplanted  by  schemes  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth, 
and  the  sordid  manipulation  of  money-making  enterprises.  I 
fear  me,  in  losing  our  distinctive  characteristics,  we  are  lower- 
ing the  standard  of  our  fathers. 

While  life  lasts,  let  us  proclaim  in  our  walk  and  conversa- 
tion and  illustrate  in  our  conduct  the  vital  influence  of  a  con- 
secrated past — the  elevating  sway  of  hopes  and  principles  dear 
to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  all  who  venerate  truth,  admire 
fortitude,  abhor  questionable  thoughts  and  acts,  and  acknowl- 
edge the  claims  of  neighbor,  country,  and  God.  In  the  light 
of  that  bravest  epoch  in  the  history  of  nations,  with  all  its 
heroic  actors,  noble  deeds,  and  marvelous  examples  of  self- 
sacrifice,  virtue,  and  high  emprise,  let  no  word  of  apology  be 
uttered  in  the  present.  Let  no  sentiment  be  cherished  which 
is  not  loyal  to  the  traditions  of  that  wondrous  period.  Let  no 
act  be  committed  which  does  not  savor  of  reverence  for  its 
inspirations  and  deeds.  And  thus,  when  all  who  participated 
in  the  struggle  shall  have  passed  away,  the  blessed  memories 
which  appertain  to  the  dead  nation  and  peoples  will  remain 
unimpaired,  and  the  examples  of  patriotism,  of  self-sacrifice, 
of  heroism,  and  of  sublime  endeavor  will  stand  for  the  honor 
of  the  days  that  are  gone,  and  challenge  the  emulation  of  the 


In  time  to  come,  as  now,  when  the  names  and  valorous 
deeds  of  those  who  died  in  defense  of  home  and  right  are 
repeated,  in  glad  acclaim  will  admiring  hearts  respond  : 

"Roll  back,  O  Time,  the  sacred  scroll 
On  which  is  told  their  story: 
For  by  the  light  that  falls  to-day 
We'd  read  their  quenchless  glory. 
For  no  historic  page  proclaims 
Such  deeds  of  high  endeavor 
As  those  the  South  enshrines  within 
Her  heart  of  hearts  forever. 

Awake  !  fond  memories  of  the  past, 
E'en  though  ye  bring  us  weeping: 
Unroll,  O  Time  !  the  precious  scroll 
We  gave  into  your  keeping. 
Flash  all  the  golden  letters  out 
That  tell  their  glorious  story  : 
Proclaim  from  every  mountain  peak 
'Dead  on  the  field  of  glory'." 


